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Frances Shaw
by George J. Dance Frances Lillian Wells Shaw (April 10, 1872 - October 12, 1937) was an American poet and philanthropist.Linda J. Evans, Richard L. Popp, "Shaw, Frances Wells, 1872-1937," Shaw-Wells family papers, 1792-1977, Chicago History Museum Research Center, 1981, 2007. Web, May 9, 2015. Life Frances Lillian Wells was born and grew up in Chicago. She attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1893 she married architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. The couple had 3 daughters: Evelyn (born 1893), Sylvia (1897), and Theodora (1912). The family lived in Chicago, in a duplex designed by Howard Shaw, and spent their summers with his family at Ragdale in Lake Forest, Illinois,Arthur H. Miller, Shaw, Frances Wells (1872-1937), Lake Forest College Library Archives and Special Collections. Web, May 9, 2015. also designed by Howard Shaw. As early as 1909 Frances Shaw had written and produced her earliet play, The Heir of Manville Grange: A peripetatic play in four acts. She went on to write several other plays, and acted in the Lake Forest Players of Mary Aldis. Around 1912, Howard Shaw designed and built an outdoor theater, the Ragdale Ring, on the Ragdale property as a showcase for his wife's plays. Frances Shaw was writing poetry by 1910, and her debut collection (Ragdale Verses, a limited edition of 50 copies) was published by the Gothic Press of Lake Forest in 1911. Shaw and her husband financially supported Poetry magazine; Frances Shaw was also a friend and travelling companion of Poetry editor Harriet Monroe, and her daughter Evelyn worked for a time in the Poetry office. Frances Shaw's poems appeared in Poetry beginning in the March 1914 issue, as well as in anthologies from the magazine. She also published poetry in The Century magazine and The Soul of a City: an urban anthology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923). The Shaws traveled extensively in America and Europe. Following Howard Shaw's death in 1926, Frances Shaw continued to travel, lecturing and publishing newspaper and magazine articles about her trips. She died in 1937 at her home in Chicago. Publications Poetry *''The Ragdale Book of Verse''. Lake Forest, IL: Gothic Press, 1911. *''Who Loves the Rain, and other poems''. Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1940. Play *''A Garden Drama: A play for children and grown-ups''. Chicago: privately published, 1913; Chicago: Dramatic, 1926. Juvenile *''Songs of a Baby's Day'' (illustrated by daughter Sylvia Shaw). Chicago: F.J. & E.M. Schmidt, 1928. Collected editions *''Essays, Plays, and Stories for Children''. 1937? Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Frances Wells Shaw, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 9, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References Fonds *Shaw, Frances Wells (1872-1937), Lake Forest College Library Archives and Special Collections. *Shaw-Wells family papers, 1792-1977 at Chicago History Museum Research Center. Notes External links ;Poems *"Who Loves the Rain" *Frances Shaw in The New Poetry: An anthology: "Who Loves the Rain," "The Harp of the Wind," "The Ragpicker," "Cologne Cathedral," "Star Thought," "The Child's Quest," "Little Pagan Rain Song" *Shaw in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Who Loves the Rain," "The Child's Quest," "Cologne Cathedral," "Skeletons," "Star Thought," "Little Pagan Rain Song," "The Ragpicker," "The Beckoning Moon," "The City Lights from a Skyscraper," "The Harp of the Wind," "The Organ Angels," "Silent Ones," "Three Voices," "The Birds of God," "The Dream Gift," "Little Lonesome Soul," "Grandmother," "World Lullaby," "Unfailing," "Rain" ;Books *''Who Loves the Rain, and other poems'' at Amazon.com ;About *Shaw, Frances Wells (1872-1937) at Lake Forest College Library Archives and Special Collections. ;Etc. *Ragdale at Five Legacy Gardens Category:1872 births Category:1937 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:American poets Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:People from Chicago, Illinois